Category: The BEET

Santa Barbara’s youngest foodies “FLIP” for good nutrition in Foodbank’sFood Literacy in Preschool Program at Storyteller Children’s Center

Four-year-old Amy is a self proclaimed fan of pears. She loves learning about fruits and vegetables, and especially enjoys participating in fun activities like making recipes with her family using fresh produce from Foodbank’s Food Literacy in Preschool (FLIP) program. FLIP serves a dual purpose: delivering short-term food assistance and providing nutrition education.

Amy is one of the 24 preschoolers (plus 20 toddlers) who attend Storyteller Children’s Center, a childcare center for homeless and at-risk children from 18 months to 5 years of age.

Every month, she looks forward to Foodbank’s FLIP program held at Storyteller.

“I liked making apple juice and apple spirals last time and today’s pear smoothie is yummy,” said Amy.

On a recent Thursday, as crisp fall fruits come into season, the kids at Storyteller received a hands-on lesson in crafting a healthy pear snack.

Gathered around a munchkin-sized table, the kids eagerly descended on the bounty of fresh, local Comice pears – sourced and delivered by Foodbank.

The boisterous class grew quiet in concentration as Amy and her classmates, with help from Storyteller teacher Maria Lopez and Foodbank’s Community Nutrition Program Coordinator Erin Hansen, began earnestly slicing the fruit using kid-friendly tools. The hubbub swelled again as the dozen Lilliputian chefs continued mixing and blending the ingredients – pears, bananas, orange juice, vanilla yogurt and ice cubes – to complete today’s recipe, joyfully dubbed “Pear-adise Smoothies.”

“It’s so important for us to empower kids to make nutritious choices and learn about the diversity of nutritious foods from a young age,” said Erin Hansen. “Incorporating healthy foods into their lives early, increases their ability to become healthy adults.”

This is one of the few times during the month Amy gets this type of exposure to fresh fruits and vegetables. Amy is one of nearly 50,000 local children who are provided with nutritious food and education through Foodbank direct programs or Foodbank’s 330+ nonprofit partners like Storyteller. Many families in Amy’s situation wish they could eat more fruits and vegetables, but might not initially buy them on their own because of the expense. And 71% of families served by the Foodbank must make heartbreaking choices of buying food or paying for housing, utilities, transportation, clothing and other basic necessities.

After each month’s FLIP lesson the children get to take home a bag of the featured produce to their families. FLIP is the first step in Foodbank’s “Feed the Future” continuum of programs, and helps drive one of the Foodbank’s key strategies: to reach families in our communities through their children. Kids bring their new-found knowledge – and in the case of FLIP, the fresh produce – back to their families, inspiring families to come together to try out new recipes and eat more nutritiously.

“We see that our kids are a tremendous influence on their families, said Rob Grayson Development Director for Storyteller. “This is especially so when they are excited about a fun new recipe they’ve learned and want to show their parents and siblings how to make it. The whole family gets to incorporate a healthy new meal or snack into their regular diet.”

FLIP is currently offered at six school-based, preschool and early childcare centers throughout Santa Barbara County.

“It’s a great partnership working with Foodbank,” said Grayson. “For our kids, the meals they get here are often times the most well-rounded and nutritious meals they get in a day, and FLIP also creates this opportunity to stretch this vital health resource into a lifetime of healthy choices.”

“Storyteller is committed to transforming the lives of some of our most vulnerable families by providing children the earliest start to break through generational cycles of poverty,” said Erik Talkin, CEO of Foodbank. “It is an honor to work side by side as we, too, provide tools to help families break through cycles of poor nutrition to create a healthy future for all.”

Locally, Foodbank of Santa Barbara County serves 144,000 low-income, below federal poverty level individuals in Santa BarbaraCounty (one if four of our total population), many of them working families, children and seniors. For more information about FLIP and other Foodbank programs, visit www.foodbanksbc.org.

“Prior to working at the Foodbank, I worked in Community Soup Kitchens for 6 years and my view of the holidays and my approach to it has never been the same. We recognize that Thanksgiving is usually a day to get together, share with one another and make sure everyone has enough to eat. But we should not stop on this day. We should be figuring out how to make this possible the other 364 days of the year. We want to encourage the idea of Thanksgiving traditions, people getting together and cooking together as a family as a model for all the other days. We often don’t think we have the time to cook together, but we actually do if we count it as the time we spend together and relate with each other as a family. It should be continued regularly as something healthy to do together.”

“I was brought up in England where they didn’t have Thanksgiving, but because my father was in the US Navy and we were Americans we would have Thanksgiving even though other people didn’t. We would have a pretty standard Thanksgiving meal, we liked to make different types of stuffing, like a pretzel stuffing or a buckwheat stuffing…”

“Yes I do, but actually this year is the first year that my family will be going to my oldest son’s house in Oakland and he’s going to cook the meal for us, rather than have the meal cooked for him. So were looking forward to that…It’s a whole new chapter…”

“The most important thing we can do is to not focus on Thanksgiving as a special day. Yes we want to make sure that everyone has a turkey and enough to eat on Thanksgiving, but the main thing that we need to take from this is, what happens let’s say in February? People are still going to be hungry in February. What’s going to happen in the summer when the sun’s beating down in Santa Barbara and we think everything is wonderful? Families are still very food insecure then, so security is about being fed throughout the year, not having a feast and famine situation which only plays into ill health that is related to nutrition.”

“I like stuffing, good stuffing, stuffing with buckwheat or with large Dutch pretzels…I’m definitely a stuffing guy!”

“I’m thankful that we have such a great group of employees, volunteers, and supporters at the Foodbank who really do bring the Thanksgiving spirit the whole year round rather than the energy only being around the one time of year. I’m very thankful for that.”

“We want to encourage people to eat responsibly and to remember that once the New Year comes, people are still hungry and food insecure then, so it’s all about spreading the love throughout the year. We’d also love people to inspire those in their family to be more involved with cooking and more involved with food as a way of strengthening the family and strengthening everyone’s health.”

I appreciate your patience as we diligently work in the Impact Department to ensure our programs are successfully up and running and we are prepared for our big Summit and Conference.

New The BEET: All Things Nutrition Posts will resume in November with topics covering Fat, Sustainability, Artificial Sweeteners, and Gut Microbes as well as more Guest Interviews with prominent Santa Barbara Voices. Also stay tuned for some delicious Fall recipes that are bound to satisfy all your senses.

You can now subscribe to The BEET by entering in your email on the left side of the blog and by clicking on the “SUBSCRIBE” button. By subscribing, you will receive an email notification when a new post has been added. This will be much easier than remembering to check out my page every week!

Happy Halloween, and remember to treat your bodies well over the usually sugar laden holiday. Fill up on wonderful and sweet Fall fruits and vegetables like figs, apples, squash and sweet potatoes. Your body and soul will thank you.

At the Foodbank, we pride ourselves in teaching others the importance of and value in preparing seasonal recipes that nourish our body. And late Summer time is all about sweet and juicy tomatoes and peaches. The sweetness of the peach perfectly balances the acidity of the tomato, and lucky for us, they are both in season together. The colors alone will make your mouth water.

Tomatoes are an antioxidant powerhouse, their most famous antioxidant being lycopene. Tomatoes are an excellent source of Vitamin C and beta-carotene, and a good source of potassium, vitamin K, and manganese. Due to these powerful nutrients, tomatoes do a great job of protecting us from oxidative damage, reducing our risk for heart disease and certain cancers. Some studies also suggest that tomatoes help protect our bloodstream as well as our bone and kidney health.

With the peach’s beautiful coral and golden orange colors, you can be sure you are eating a great source of Vitamin A. Vitamin A is famous for promoting healthy vision, especially in low light. Vitamin A also helps form and maintain healthy skin, teeth, and skeletal and soft tissues. It’s a dynamite nutrient.

Please indulge in this delicious and colorful salad as you embrace the last few weeks of Summer. Your body will thank you!

Heirloom Tomato, Peach, and Basil Summer Salad

Prep Time: 5 Minutes Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

2 heirloom tomatoes (any color), cored and thinly sliced

2 ripe peaches, cored and thinly sliced

¼ of a red onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup torn or julienned fresh basil

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste

Method

Combine the tomatoes, peaches and red onion in a bowl and toss with the basil, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper until evenly mixed. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to two days. Enjoy in the sunshine with family if possible!

Rhianna King is a clinical registered dietitian at Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, and works with cancer patients at the Mission Hope Cancer Center to provide appropriate nutritional counseling, information and recommendations. She currently serves as the Clinical Nutrition Manager at Marian. She graduated from California Polytechnic State University in 2009 with a Bachelors of Sciences in Nutrition. She completed her Dietetic Internship through Cal Poly as well. She encourages patients and clients to focus on eating mostly plants to optimize their health and prevent/fight disease. She embodies what it means to be a connected and caring nutrition professional and registered dietitian, whose focus is to provide evidence based nutrition information throughout Santa Maria.

“To me being healthy means feeling your best both physically and mentally to enjoy life to its fullest. This includes engaging in activities like healthy eating and regular physical activity that keeps your body functioning as it should.”

“Our health directly impacts our quality of life. Living healthy means a longer life, less time spent in the hospital, and less time spending money on medications and procedures that have the potential to be prevented through proper nutrition and physical activity. Food fuels our body and has everything we need in it for optimal health. If you look at the composition of a tomato for example versus a human being you might be surprised at all the similarities; water, carbohydrate, protein, vitamins, minerals, etc. Our body is capable of so many amazing things and proper nutrition is the required fuel.”

“My motivation comes from my desire to have a positive impact in the lives of the people around me. I have knowledge in a particular field that can improve health, prevent and treat disease, and that knowledge needs to be shared. I want to help people take charge of their health and improve their lives.”

“I think food insecurity can have a negative impact on both physical and mental health. Inadequate nutrition can also cause social anxieties and behavioral changes all leading to poor quality of life.”

“Food First! I try to instill in everyone that consuming a variety of foods is the best way to achieve optimal nutrition, NOT through a pill. There is no “magic” single food or dietary supplement that creates the perfect diet. The FUNdamentals with Food class I started at the cancer center serves to be educational about healthy diet practices by exposing our patients to the variety of healthy foods we talk about through cooking demonstration and lecture. I always comment that healthy food doesn’t have to be boring or taste bad and its part of my job as nutrition professional and advocate to prove that to you.”

“Enjoy a diet that is 2/3 plant based and experience great health for yourself!”

For more information about the FUNdamentals of Food Class and other health and wellness classes run through the Mission Hope Cancer Center, please click here.

Fruits and Vegetables in the News

We’ve all seen the news that eating fruits and vegetables helps us in all aspects of our lives. It seems like every day, studies emerge linking fruit and vegetable consumption to overall health and vitality like below:

Fruits and Vegetables are linked to reducing your risk of obesity, heart disease, and certain cancers. They are even linked to improving your optimism and reducing your risk of death! Is there truth to these claims? YES! While some of the statements are exaggerative, the truth is, fruits and vegetables help us in all these areas because they are nutrient dense and low calorie foods that the body needs and craves for optimal health.

When you eat nutrient dense and low calorie foods, like fruits and vegetables, you are maximizing the amount of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants you eat, while keeping your calorie intake low.

Antioxidants act as scavengers in our bodies, traveling through our tissues and cells, to locate the damaging free radicals that seek to harm our cells. These free radicals damage our body’s protein and fat cells, as well as our cellular DNA, increasing our risk for certain cancers and heart disease. Free radicals are unavoidable, as they are formed when we breathe in pollution or smoke, when we are stressed, or when we eat less healthy foods. We need these powerful antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables to confront these war-like free radicals and say “No, not in my body!”

Now think about what this means in terms of weight management and optimism. By eating more nutrient dense and low calorie foods, you are optimizing your health and supplying your body with what it truly needs. You can and should feel proud of yourself for treating yourself in the best possible way. I don’t know about you, but when I eat a fruit or a vegetable, I imagine my body thanking me for nourishing it. I feel healthier immediately, energized, and ready to take on the day. I feel confident that what I have just put in my body will sustain and take care of me. I feel more connected to the earth and what it provides for me, therefore, I have a more optimistic outlook on the day.

(I am fully aware of how hippie-like this sounds, but it’s true!!)

Good Nutrition Equals Mental Health

By feeling healthier and more connected, you can tackle depressive moments and pessimistic views. Many studies have linked depression to being overweight or obese. By incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your meals, you are foregoing more calorie “rich” foods laden with starchy carbohydrates and saturated fat which have been shown to increase your risk for obesity as well as weigh you down physically and emotionally.

In this vicious circle, overeating unhealthy foods can lead to depression, and depression can lead to overeating unhealthy foods. It’s not science.

Putting This Into Action

So how do we do this? Fruits and vegetables have a stigma, one that desperately needs to be eradicated. As a dietitian, I hear all the time, “fruits and vegetables are expensive…they are hard to prepare…I don’t know how to use them…I know I should eat them, but…”

I don’t want to try and convince you that fruits and vegetables are cheaper than fast food, but if thoughtfully planned out, they can be a very affordable part of your diet, especially if you utilize the produce the Foodbank offers, or if you grow your own. Fruits and vegetables also are less expensive if you buy them in season, because you don’t have to pay for the cost of transportation as well as other hidden costs.

And they are not hard to prepare! As long as you have a knife and a cutting board, the time it takes to cut up a lettuce, carrot, cucumber, broccoli, and avocado salad is less than 5 minutes! That’s less time than it takes to go through a drive-through window. And at the same time, you are breaking this “vicious circle” of poor diet and unhappiness.

I am confident, if you continue to tune into The BEET: All Things Nutrition, you will change the way you think about fruits and vegetables. They will become staples in your kitchens, the center of your family dining experience, and important components of your everyday health.

Subscribe to The BEET!

The BEET is a weekly blog from the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County’s website. Every other Tuesday, you will find an original article in one of these four categories:

Nutrition in the News posts aim to keep you up-to-date on emerging research that is reported in books and the news media. Nutrition news can be confusing and may even be based on unsound research. Registered Dietitians have the training and expertise to sift through the research and tell you the whole story, not just the bits and pieces reported as breakthrough or controversial news.

Guest Interviews feature experts from Santa Barbara and beyond who have a “Nutrition Voice” in our community. Once a month, we will interview restaurant chefs, farmers, nutrition professionals, and health and wellness innovators. We have a strong collaborative team of community members who care about the health of the entire community, and want to see you thrive through health and good nutrition.

Nutrition Myth Busters aim to combat nutrition myths that are forever encroaching on our way of life, but do they come from sound science? We all like to believe our families’ ancient health remedies, but is it fact or really just a myth?

Seasonal Recipes: We are excited to share with you seasonal directly from the Foodbank’s award-winning programs. These recipes utilize Santa Barbara’s and California’s bounty of fruits and vegetables. We are truly fortunate to live in a community where so much pride goes into the produce we grow. Let’s Eat!

About The BEET'S Author & Editor

Erin Hansen, RDN, Community Nutrition Coordinator
Erin’s role as the Foodbank’s Community Nutrition Coordinator includes providing sound, science based nutrition information to all members of our community.

“It is my greatest hope to create a forum through The BEET, that will convey nutrition information in a way that speaks to you, so that you may feel empowered to make food decisions that will improve not just your body, but your mind and your spirit.”

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